Vascular ground flora in relation to topography, canopy structure and gap light regimes in a subtropical broadleaved forest (South China)

We examined the influence of topogra phy, canopy structure and gap light environmental variables on the patterns of vascular ground flora (vascular plants less than 1 m in height excluding tree seedlings) in a subtropical broadleaved forest in S China, using field data obtained from a 4-ha permanent plot. Both topographic and canopy environmental conditions had a significant effect on community composition, species diversity and distribution of the vascular ground flora. However, topographic factors, especially slope position and aspect, had a greater influence as compared with canopy and understory light conditions. Both number of individuals and number of individuals per species of the ground flora varied significantly with different slope position, aspect, slope steepness and transmitted direct radiation, while species richness varied significantly under different slope position and canopy leaf area index (LAI) The effects of topographic and canopy environmental conditions on ground-flora composition and structure was further confirmed by Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Multi-response Permutation Procedures (MRPP) showed significant differences in the ground-flora species composition based on all the topographic, canopy structure and gap light variables. Species indicative of topographic, canopy structure and gap light regimes were identified with a significant indicator value (IV ≥ 35%) by Indicator Species Analysis (ISA), which indicated that certain species have their ecological preference for a particular environmental gradient.